Another Milestone

Another milestone in this journey today. I stop my thyroid replacement hormone and start the low iodine diet (LID). I'm going shopping today to stock up on eggs and fruit and veggies. I'm going to be cooking a bunch of fresh meat today too. I'm supposed to limit the amount of meat I eat to 6 oz... yikes!! What am I going to eat? Cause there's no cottage cheese, no whey protein, no soy and no egg yolks. I will probably be a little lenient on the meat restriction because I don't eat much else that needs to be limited. It's not a NO iodine diet, I just have to keep it under 50 mcg per day. Here's a basic list of disallowed foods.

Avoid These Foods and Additives

• Iodized salt and sea salt. Non-iodized salt may be used.
  
• Seafood and sea products.
  
• Foods or products that contain these sea-based additives: carrageenan, agar-agar, algin, alginate, nori.
  
• Dairy products.
  
• Egg yolks or whole eggs. Egg whites are acceptable.
  
• Commercial bakery products.
• Red Dye #3. However, Red Dye #40 is OK.
  
• Most Chocolate (for its milk content).
  
• Some Molasses.
  
• Soybeans and most soy products (soy sauce, soy milk, tofu).
  
• Red kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, and cowpeas. Other diets do not limit beans.
• Rhubarb and potato skins.
  
• Iodine-Containing Vitamins, and Food Supplements.
  

Limit the Amounts of these Foods

• Fresh meats. Up to 6 ounces per day of fresh meats are fine on the low-iodine diet.
  
• Grains, cereals. Up to 4 servings per day.
  
• Rices.
  

So that's it. I'll be eating a pile of egg whites and fruit and vegetables until January 10. And hoping I don't gain weight beyond water weight. I'm less worried about the diet than about going off my medicine. I am so ready to be done with all the business of getting rid of the cancer (for now, at least!) - I just can't wait for next week to arrive.

It is, of course, sad that President Ford passed away; however, he expired conveniently just before a holiday weekend, and we now get not three but FOUR days off!! How lucky is that?